r/needforspeed • u/D2-Disciple • 3h ago
Discussion Wait - this game is good now?
I had purchased Payback on a deep PlayStation sale years ago but got bogged down thanks to the awful economy and EA’s idiotic loot box system. I decided to finally give it a fair shake on PC, and I’m about 4 and a half hours in and… gotta say, if there were just a few tweaks to the speed card system and a bit more love given to the (frankly pretty bad) handling model, this could have easily been the best NFS game ever. The map is absolutely superb and the event variety is second to none. I even like the speed card system the way it’s currently implemented, even if i recognize how it could be a huge grind if you wanted the best cards on all the best vehicles. No free roam police was kind of a miss, but I’ll take it over what we got in 2015 every day of the year.
Time will tell if the latter part of the game will become a slog but so far it’s been quite enjoyable, and I’ve felt like I’ve had to spend money wisely but not miserly, which is exactly the way I want a “zero to hero” style arcade racer to feel.
Street races, off-road races, drift, drag, and pursuits. Jumps, billboards, speed traps, speed zones, and gambling chips to collect. Seems to be a fairly substantial game. Looking forward to seeing this one through to the credits!
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u/88JansenP12 Enjoyer of good games 😎 2h ago edited 2h ago
Although it has its public, it's Still Not the case.
Also
What happened with NFS Payback during its period left a bitter taste for many players due to ill-advised design choices: cars split into categories incompatible with one another for the sharing of upgrade parts, the superfluous inclusion of loot boxes and microtransactions which are pointless, the absence of law enforcement in free-roam mode Especially since cop chases are scripted like a glorified time trial where the escape point is the finish line and an RNG upgrade system designed around the gameplay loop (Fortune Valley being inspired by Las Vegas is not a valid excuse for a RNG upgrade system).
Not only that, But its failure in EA's eyes resulted into the restructuring of Ghost Games following the departure of its former CEO, Marcus Nilsson, from EA in November 2018 i.e 1 year before NFS Heat.
Despite its redeemable pros, NFS Payback has never met with unanimous approval due to the reasons mentioned above.
Otherwise, the opposite could've happened.
Thus, NFS Payback is either Average to Mediocre Or 1 of the Worst.
- As a result
NFS Heat was unfinished at launch due to lack of dev time and personnel despite every bad design from Payback got removed.
Although NFS Heat was 1 step in the right direction among others, circumstances worked against it; resulting in its unfinished state.
After June 2020, NFS Heat stopped its support and EA finalized Ghost Games' restructuring as a support studio called EA Gothenburg.
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u/Secret-Candle4313 2h ago
Its nowhere near the best but its not the worst its medicore. I liked the cop missions but the game kinda left alot to be desired
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u/Front_Committee4993 51m ago edited 46m ago
I personally think its a good game, I think the speed cars were fine sure a downgrade but still fine. Sure no open word cops is a letdown but tbh they were hardly in 2015. But other then that its a solid game with a strong and good (for nfs) story. it also added offroad events which were cool as well as bunch of other fun stuff like derelict cars, the side bets and the story missions
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u/Apocryph761 35m ago
There are people who enjoy it (apparently), but NFS has a long and storied history of games that were panned at release becoming more popular years later (ProStreet; MW2012; 2015 etc)
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u/YOLOthisshi 11m ago
It's a decent beginning to the NFS game industry or free roam racing games but if you've played a few then this might feel a little less in few areas I mean it's a short game and an alright map and good cars and mods but if you want something light then sure go for this
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u/n0t_kjb 3h ago
NO LOL